


Why Thor Is Responsible For Cayden Getting a Little T.L.C.

by Blackrose197666



Series: Why... [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, equally stuborn Clint, stubborn Cayden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 12:45:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5627131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackrose197666/pseuds/Blackrose197666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part five in the "Why" series. Clint and Cayden are settling into their new relationship when Clint is called away on a mission. In his absence the avengers are called out leading to Thor ending up in SHIELD medical - but it's one of the doctors who ends up coming off worse for the whole ordeal. They say doctors make the worst patients...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And here’s part five in the Why series. Fluffy nonsense. Maybe not the most convincing premise but I needed a Why Thor…. And I should probably apologise for the fact Thor isn’t actually in this in person – I tried to write the bits with him but they just would not come out. 
> 
> Please note the series was started before Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out and I will not be working in any of those events.

 

Cayden blinked awake slowly, not needing to look at the clock to know it was stupidly early. Too many years of waking up at the ass-crack of dawn had made it almost impossible for the doctor to sleep in. On a morning like this though he did not mind so much.

A smile spread over his lips as he registered the weight around his waist. Rolling his head to the side he looked at the man still sleeping peacefully next to him. Cayden exhaled softly through his nose, lightly tracing his fingers over the arm laid across his stomach. His smile widened as Clint’s nose screwed up slightly, his arm twitching faintly under the doctor’s touch. Cayden stilled his fingers, settling his hand over Clint’s gently. When the archer had first started staying over the slightest movement had woken him up but recently he had been more likely to stay sleeping and Cayden was learning how much he could push the other man without waking him up.

Cayden had not made a big deal the first time Clint had stayed overnight, nor had he made a fuss since. Over in the corner of his bedroom sat a small rucksack, filled with a change of clothes. This was another thing Cayden had not made a big deal out of – the first few overnight stays had ended fairly early with Clint needing to get back to his own place or generally having something else to do. Now he would frequently stay for the majority of the next day too. Cayden never really pushed him – just dropped subtle hints and semi-mockingly whined when the archer threatened to leave…

What the doctor really did want to do was suggest that Clint just leave a few things at his apartment but he was scared that would be pushing the other man too far. Things were going so smoothly since they had made up following Cayden’s chat with Natasha and he could not help but worry that even a small gesture could rock the boat. And not-withstanding Clint’s already demonstrated tendency to freak out over progression in relationships Cayden had no idea if it was too soon to be suggesting something like that. Sure Natasha had commented that most normal guys would have practically moved in with him weeks ago but he was pretty sure that was a joke – at the very least an exaggeration.

 _No_ he decided, closing his eyes and twining his fingers gently around Clint’s, things were good the way they were – no need to upset anything…

x-x-x

Cayden ran a hand over his face as he pushed his chair back from his desk, a tired sigh escaping his lips. The day was dragging and all he could think about was finishing time and getting back to his apartment and what he was going to make for dinner for him and Clint and…

A short, sharp beep from his computer snapped the doctor from his thoughts. Pursing his lips he looked at the screen, tapping his fingers against the desk as he opened the incoming file – the incoming alert that agents were being deployed.

_Agent: Hawkeye. Mission Type: 1. Length: Undetermined._

Another sigh slipped from Cayden’s lips, this one far more weary and disappointed than the last. Well that sorted the dilemma of dinner – take out for one and worrying about his lover it was. It may be mission type 1 (highly covert) but that was not going to stop Cayden’s concern. He had seen enough covert missions go south in the blink of an eye – both in the Navy and as a SHIELD doctor.

Delving into the top drawer of his desk he pulled out his person cell phone, which he had left on silent, finding he did indeed have one message. From Clint.

 _Rain-check_. _Sorry._

A wry smile pulled on Cayden’s lips. At least Clint – who had no idea Cayden got these little messages when agents were sent away – had followed through on a promise to let him know whenever he was sent away. Hopefully it would not be for long…

x-x-x

Clint rolled his shoulders as he stepped off the quinjet and back onto American soil. It had only been just over a week he had been away but it had been a week alone with very little sleep. A week with not much to do but think about his friends and how much he missed them (despite his best intentions to never let anyone else into his life who would have that big an impact) and think about Cayden and…

A faint frown pulled on Clint’s brow as his thoughts drifted back to the doctor. _Again_. He would not mind so much if he kept finding himself thinking about the other man’s body – between Cayden’s work pattern before his mission and then the week long mission itself it had been almost two weeks since the two had properly been together – but no. What Clint found himself missing the most was just _talking_ to the other man. He missed hearing his voice or even just the silly little text messages that the two exchanged when Cayden was working. A tired sigh escaped Clint’s lips as he ran a hand through his hair. He’d worry about that after his debrief.

And it was a strange day indeed when Clint Barton was almost _relieved_ to be heading off to a debrief.

x-x-x

_Honey I’m home_

Clint hit the send button and shoved his cell phone back in his pocket, hoisting his rucksack further onto his shoulder as he made his way down the SHIELD corridors towards the basement garage where his Jeep was parked. His brow furrowed faintly as the cell phone started to ring. Natasha normally just replied to that message with a text…

“Hey Tasha,” he answered. “Miss me that much did you?”

“Of course sweetheart,” came the mocking reply. “I was actually just wondering if you’d heard about our little escapade while you were away?”

Clint pouted slightly as he continued towards the garage.

“You had an escapade without me? No… Hill didn’t mention it during my debrief,” the archer’s pout turned into a more concerned frown. Why on earth was Natasha phoning him to tell him this? “Why? What happened?”

“I’ll let Tony give you all the gory details,” Natasha replied flippantly. “You know how he likes to tell a story. I thought you’d be more interested by what Thor got up to in SHIELD medical.”

Clint stopped dead in the corridor.

“Thor?” the archer’s frown deepened. “Was in SHIELD medical?”

“Indeed he was,” Natasha’s tone remained overly casual. “Like I say I’ll let Tony give you the details all you need to know is Thor was unconscious for a short while and ended up under the care of one Doctor Poole.”

Clint’s eyes closed briefly as he sighed inwardly.

“Of course he did,” the archer grumbled. “Do I wanna know?”

Natasha chuckled.

“Well from what I’ve been told Cayden was actually the only one who had ever bothered to read the big guys medical record. He warned everyone to stay back in case the big lug woke up suddenly and sent people flying but unfortunately no-one was listening to him so when he noticed Blondie stirring when he had a little harem of nurses crowding round him…”

Clint rolled his eyes.

“So _he_ was the one that got sent flying?”

“Yup. Gave his head a good crack off the wall,” the other agent’s voice grew more serious as she continued. “Aaaaand jarred his knee pretty badly when he landed.”

Clint’s eyes closed again. He did not need Natasha to specify it was his bad knee Cayden had landed on.

“How bad is it?”

“I’ll be honest I’m not entirely sure,” Natasha admitted. “Thor did go in and speak with him once he woke up from being knocked out and the big guy was quite taken with him so sounds like Cayden was in a relatively good mood. I don’t know how bad his knee is but I do know that he stayed in medical last night because of the concussion and then insisted he get home today against medical advice. Something along the lines of if he was kept in medical he’d keep getting up and trying to leave but if they let him go home he would do as he was told and rest.”

Clint rolled his eyes, exhaling heavily.

“Hypocrite…” he grumbled but it was without malice as he ran a hand though his hair.

“So… am I telling everyone you’re back or will I wait until tomorrow?” Natasha asked after a brief pause. Clint arched an eyebrow, biting his lower lip thoughtfully.

“May as well wait and tell them tomorrow,” he replied lightly, continuing on his way down the corridor toward the garage. “I’d better go round and make sure Cayden’s not doing himself more damage...”

And he could tell Natasha was smirking as she agreed and said goodbye to him but the archer decided he did not really care.


	2. Chapter 2

A series of curses slipped from Cayden’s lips as he collapsed onto his sofa, unceremoniously dropping his crutches down on the ground. Clenching his jaw he took several deep breaths, closing his eyes at the pain that throbbed through his leg. Finally the pain dimmed to a dull throb. Slowly opening his eyes the doctor grabbed the bottle of bourbon and glass from the table next to him, pouring himself a drink and downing it in one swig. As he went to pour himself another drink however his cell phone started to ring. Pursing his lips Cayden continued to pour his drink, deciding to ignore it but as he raised the glass to his lips he changed his mind. Returning the bottle to the table he grabbed the phone from the same surface and hit the answer button. Even in his dark mood he found his spirit lifted slightly by the name flashing up on the tiny screen.

“Hey… that you back?”

“Yeah, that’s me back,” Clint replied. “Doctor- _do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do_.”

Cayden smiled wryly, taking a sip of bourbon.

“You’ve heard then?”

“Tasha filled me in,” Clint confirmed. “You want some company?”

Cayden scoffed.

“I wouldn’t be much company.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Really Clint, don’t bother,” Cayden smiled wryly. It was not often he turned down the other man’s company. “Go catch up with your teammates.”

“Yeah… this is more of a FYI call… I’m guessing you’re not able to move very far very fast so I’m about to pick your lock.”

“ _What_?” Cayden turned his head towards the main door, scowling as indeed he did hear a faint rustling sound. Letting out a sigh he returned his attention to his cell phone. “Look Clint I…”

The doctor dropped the cell phone onto the sofa next to him as he released Clint had already hung up on him. Downing more of his drink he set his gaze on the floor in front of him as his front door opened and shut.

“Hey…” Clint wandered in, making his way to stand in front of where Cayden slumped on the sofa. “God, you do look like you’ve gone a couple of rounds with Thor.”

The doctor could not help but scowl.

“I don’t need a babysitter Clint.”

Clint’s eyebrow arched faintly at the uncharacteristically blunt response.

“I’m not here to babysit you. I’m just here for company.”

Cayden regarded the other man for a moment before shrugging and gesturing loosely to the many empty seats around him.

“Make yourself at home then. But like I said – I’m not going to be much company.”

Clint shrugged faintly as he dropped his rucksack near the furthest away sofa, sitting himself down on the same sofa as Cayden although he kept a small distance between them as he sat sideways to face the doctor.

“So come on then. How bad is it?” he asked, deciding just to go for it despite the obvious bad humour at the subject. Cayden sighed and although he did not look right round at the archer he did tilt his head toward him.

“I’m signed off for at least two weeks but it’s probably gonna turn into longer.”

Clint nodded slowly. He guessed that there was also a stipulated length of time Cayden was supposed to stay off his feet but he got the feeling that asking that specifically would just get an overly defensive reply.

“‘Tasha said the big guy came in to see you?”

“Don’t worry – I didn’t say anything about us,” Cayden grumbled, turning his head away again to pour himself another drink. Clint blinked quickly.

“That’s not…” the archer sighed quietly. “I wasn’t worried about that. I was just wondering how you coped with the puppy face I’m guessing he had when he was apologising.”

The scowl left Cayden’s face as he took a sip of his freshly poured drink.

“Oh… yeah eh…” he turned his head to face Clint properly, his lips quirked in a faintly apologetic smile. “It is hard to stay mad at that face isn’t it?” he shrugged and returned his head to lay against the back of the sofa, staring up at the roof. “I mean it wasn’t his fault. Damned nurses just couldn’t keep their paws off his chest and when I saw him stirring…”

Clint smiled sympathetically letting a short silence fall before speaking up again.

“Have you eaten yet? I haven’t had anything but a couple of power bars all day.”

Cayden pursed his lips.

“Don’t have much of an appetite.”

“Okay,” Clint shrugged, moving to stand. “Mind if I order a take-away? I’ll get a bit extra then if you do want something you can have it but if not…”

Cayden nodded absently as Clint shrugged again. The archer suppressed a sigh and turned towards the kitchen where he knew there was a supply of takeout menus. This was going to be a long night…

x-x-x

Clint glanced up from the tablet on his lap as he heard movement. He frowned slightly as he noticed Cayden shuffling slightly toward the edge of the sofa as if to get up, his frown deepening as he noted the pain etching on the other man’s face. The archer kept his mouth shut however. His offer to help earlier that evening when Cayden had needed to go to the bathroom had led to a snapped response about still not needing a Goddamn babysitter and the mood had not really improved any since then, not helped no doubt by the fact that moving that far on his own had obviously caused Cayden great pain. Upon his return Clint had offered to get him pain killers but that suggestion had also been shot down.

For a moment silence reigned as Cayden sat at the edge of the sofa, eyes closed and arms braced either side of him as if to push himself up but he did not move.

“I’m going to call it a night,” the doctor spoke up finally, his voice relatively stable although Clint noticed the pain laced through the tone. Cayden looked over at Clint with a faint grimace. “Could you… give me a hand?”

“Of course,” Clint leapt to his feet, dropping the tablet on the sofa next to him. Moving to stand in front of the other man he offered an arm which Cayden grabbed onto although he took two deep breaths before he used the leverage to haul himself to his feet, immediately shifting his weight into his good leg. Clint slipped an arm around him, supporting as much of his weight as Cayden would allow. Slowly they made their way through to the bedroom, the archer carefully helping Cayden undress for bed.

“This isn’t quite what I had in mind for when you came back,” Cayden commented as Clint helped him out of his shirt although his face contorted as he found himself almost unbalancing. Clint paused to make sure he was ok before returning a wry smile.

“Yeah… I admit I was imagining it different while I was away too,” he replied, relieved that Cayden was acting a little more like his usual self. Another pained hiss escaped Cayden’s lips as he finally managed to sit down on the bed. Clint frowned concernedly.

“Are you sure you don’t want any painkillers?” he asked quietly. God knows he hated taking them too if he could help it but if he was in _that_ much pain…

To Clint’s relief Cayden shook his head slowly, his face – although contorted slightly in pain – took on none of the earlier agitation at such a suggestion.

“I’ve seen too many guys become hooked on those things – from both sides of the fence,” he explained. Clint nodded in understanding although his frown remained.

“Ok, that’s fair,” he acknowledged. “But… if it doesn’t get any better how about maybe just a mild one then? Even just to take the edge off?”

Cayden looked the archer in the eye for a moment before giving a small nod.

“If it doesn’t get better,” he agreed. Clint smiled softly at the compromise as Cayden carefully shuffled under the covers.

“I’m just going to switch everything off and I’ll be back through ok?”

“You can stay up if you want,” Cayden half shrugged. Clint laughed dryly.

“I haven’t slept for about forty hours,” he replied. “If it’s ok with you, I’m just going to go to bed too.”

Clint turned and made his way back through to the lounge as Cayden nodded. Quickly he switched off the television and the tablet he had been reading and made his way back to the bedroom, grabbing Cayden’s crutches and flicking off all the lights on the way. Leaving the crutches within Cayden’s reach he quickly undressed and carefully clambered into the opposite side of the bed. A faint frown returned to his face as he lay on his side, facing Cayden but keeping a distance between them for fear of jarring his body. This was the first time he had ever stayed the night without the two having sex first…

The archer pulled the frown from his face and offered a small smile as Cayden rolled his head towards him, shuffling his body slightly to be a little closer.

“I missed you when you were away,” the doctor said quietly, an arm reaching out to trace fingers lightly down Clint’s arm. Clint chuckled quietly, remembering now how earlier that day he had been on the verge of a freak out about this very matter. He decided not to tell Cayden that Thor crippling him had prevented that. Maybe in a few weeks when he would be able to laugh about it…

“I missed you too,” he admitted instead, leaning forward and brushing his lips over Cayden’s, relieved as he leant into the kiss. “Good night.”

“Night Clint.”


	3. Chapter 3

Clint slowly felt himself being pulled from his slumber, aware that something was wrong but not sure what. That in itself was alarming the archer – usually if something was happening he would snap awake in an instant and…

A pained groan pulled Clint’s attention toward the man lying next to him. Another groan was followed by mumblings as Cayden thrashed about. Clint quickly sat up and leaned over the other man, recognising the signs of what was clearly a very intense nightmare.

“Cayden,” Clint shook Cayden’s shoulders to try and rouse him. “Cayden! Cayden wake up! Cay…”

Suddenly the doctor sat up, breathing heavily and shaking violently. Clint scrambled to his knees, grabbing Cayden’s face and trying to get him to look at him.

“Cayden! Cayden baby it’s ok – you’re safe! It’s ok,” Clint’s fingers ran soothingly through Cayden’s hair as slowly his breathing calmed, his eyes appearing to focus. “You’re safe.”

“Clint?” Cayden blinked slowly, frowning slightly as he looked around his room. Letting out a relieved sigh he slumped against Clint’s chest. Clint continued to run one hand through Cayden’s hair, the other running gently up and down his back as he waited for him to fully calm. Finally Cayden’s breathing settled. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Clint frowned as he pulled back slightly, cupping Cayden’s cheek as he offered a reassuring smile. The smile faded slightly as he arched an eyebrow inquisitively. “Flashbacks?” he asked, giving a small nod at the flinch in Cayden’s shoulder. It was only logical the nightmare had been in relation to the event that had caused Cayden’s injury initially. “You want to talk about it?”

Cayden blinked in surprise but quickly shook his head, lowering it back onto Clint’s shoulder.

“Not just now,” he replied. Clint nodded in acceptance even though he knew Cayden would not see.

“Do you need anything?” he asked after a short pause. Cayden shook his head, pulling back and moving to lay back down. Clint lay back down too, resting a hand over Cayden’s shoulder for reassurance. He could tell Cayden was still on edge but he knew better than to push him just now. He’d talk when he was ready…

x-x-x

A soft groan escaped Cayden’s lips as he felt himself pulled from his slumber. Slowly he blinked his eyes open, rolling his head to the side and looking at the clock on his bedside cabinet, eyes widening slightly in surprise as he read the time. The doctor could not remember the last time he has slept so late. Stretching his leg carefully he rolled his head back to look at the other side of the bed, frowning this time as he found it empty. Another groan escaped his lips, this time more disgruntled as he ran a hand through his hair. Cursing at himself under his breath he clambered awkwardly out of bed, grabbing his crutches as he did. For a moment he stood, breathing heavily until the pain dulled a little. As his breathing returned to normal he became aware of quiet noises coming from the direction of the kitchen. The doctor’s eyebrows rose slightly. Perhaps Clint had not left yet after all?

Slowly making his way through to the kitchen Cayden paused in the doorway, his lips curling into a smile as he watched Clint flip pancakes at the stove, a tea towel thrown over his shoulder.

“Well aren’t you domestic?”

The archer turned round quickly, a somewhat sheepish – and slightly wary – expression on his face.

“Don’t tell Stark,” he replied with a smirk, turning back to the pan. “Or Natasha.”

Cayden chuckled quietly although his eyebrow did arch slightly since he had not yet been introduced to Tony – or any of Clint’s friends other than Natasha – but that was not an argument he wanted to start. He had met Steve and Bruce already through SHIELD and now he had also met Thor but Tony Stark was yet to cross his path. Slowly making his way over to the cooker the doctor carefully shifted his weight onto his good leg and slipped a hand onto Clint’s waist.

“I’m sorry I was such an ass last night,” Cayden apologised softly but sincerely. “I just… I don’t like feeling helpless.”

Clint turned his head to look at the other man, a faint frown pulling on his brow.

“You’re not helpless,” he replied, slipping a hand over Cayden’s. “You’re just doing shit a bit slower than normal,” his lips curled into a warm smile as a half snort half chuckle escaped Cayden’s lips. The doctor was clearly in a much better mood than the night before.

“Go sit down, I’ll bring you some food over. Coffee?”

“Coffee would be good,” Cayden nodded, doing as he was told and making his way to the table albeit slowly. Clint plated up the last of the pancakes and brought them to the table. As he turned to head back toward the coffee maker Cayden caught him by the waist, slipping an arm around him carefully and pulling him closer.

“Thank you Clint, for looking after me last night,” he said sincerely, looking up into the archers blue eyes. “And for putting up with me.”

Clint shrugged a shoulder, his gaze dropping to the floor.

“Well that’s what a good little boyfriend does isn’t it?” Clint glanced up with a nervous smile, quickly leaning down and brushing his lips over Cayden’s. “We look after each other and put up with each other when the other one is being a dick.”

This time Cayden let out a full on chuckle.

“Yeah…” he nodded, leaning up for another quick kiss and not even trying to hide the contended smile on his lips. “That’s what we do.”

Clint smiled and gave a small nod, running his hands over Cayden’s shoulder.

“You know, I meant what I said last night. You can talk to me anytime,” his hand drifted down to just below the doctor’s right shoulder blade where Clint knew there were three small parallel scars – one of the only set he did not know the origins of. “And about anything.”

Cayden’s smile tightened although he gave a nod.

“I know,” he acknowledged sincerely, his own hand drifting onto the small of Clint’s back where he knew under the archer’s shirt there was another small scar, one he in turn did not yet know the origin of. “Likewise,” the doctor paused as Clint flinched ever so slightly but his face remained composed as he nodded. Cayden smiled and buried his head in Clint’s chest, drawing small circles on the archer’s back as he worried his bottom lip. “You know… when I woke up and the docs told me I wasn’t going to walk again I just laughed at them. Told them I’d be on my feet in a couple of months,” Cayden inhaled deeply and Clint noticed the slight shake in the other man’s normally calm voice. “A couple of months later and I started to think they might be right. I was… I mean I couldn’t even…” a shaky sigh escaped his lips as he felt Clint’s hands run through his hair. “Every time I hurt it again I just worry that… I mean it was really fucked up. There’s still shrapnel in my leg. That time I hurt it when I was still treating you that was just… jolted it slightly but this time the shrapnel moved and… I just…” Cayden’s voice dropped to an almost inaudible volume. “What if it doesn’t get better this time?”

Clint’s brow furrowed as he continued to run his fingers thought Cayden’s hair. What could he say to that? He could not promise it would all be alright – he knew very little details of Cayden’s injury or how it came to be. It made sense that every new little injury could indeed cause untold long term damage to the already fragile limb.

“Well then we’ll both just have to get used to you doing shit a little slower,” Clint replied quietly, hoping his tone conveyed the correct mix of humour and sincerity he was aiming for. Judging by the soft chuckle that escaped Cayden’s lips he succeeded. “And I’ll just have to get used to you being a grumpy bastard more often.”

“Well it’ll make a change from you being the grumpy one,” Cayden unburied his head from Clint’s chest and grinned up at the archer and although the smile was genuine enough Clint noticed the lingering worry in his eyes. Leaning down Clint brushed his lips over Cayden’s, running his hands through his hair. Cayden sighed wistfully and leaned into the touch. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t complain,” the doctor’s voice grew quiet again. “The guy next to me lost both legs from the knee down. Guy next to him… the _four guys_ next to him didn’t even make it.”

Clint frowned heavily, wanting to say something, _anything_ , to make the other man feel better but he knew there were no words that would do that. All he could do was continue to rub soothing circles around Cayden’s shoulder. Judging by the grateful smile the doctor turned up to him it was appreciated as much as anything else. Clint returned the smile.

“Ready for your coffee?”

Cayden nodded, relaxing back into his seat as Clint moved back to the counter. The doctor tilted his head to the side as he thought back to the night before, his brow furrowing ever so slightly.

“Clint?”

“Cayden?”

“Last night when you were waking me up from that nightmare…” his eyebrow arched, lips quirking slightly. “Did you call me _baby_?”

Clint paused momentarily as he reached for the cups before continuing with a small shrug.

“Don’t think so. You must have imagined it – you were pretty out of it.”

Cayden’s eyebrow arched further, lips curling into a full smile at the other man’s tone. So he had heard right. Shame he hadn’t been in a more … amiable mood the night before…

“Oh well,” the doctor hid his smile as Clint returned with two mugs of coffee, setting them down and taking the seat next to him. “Thanks darlin’.”

Clint blinked rapidly as Cayden simply grabbed a pancake and sipped on his coffee. With a slight shake of the head he laughed quietly, grabbing a pancake for himself. How long had the doctor been holding back that endearment?

“You’re welcome baby.”


End file.
